me9 said:
>
> I would abolish NI and stick it on income/corporation gnk if I was
> cancellior. It's definitely a GNK. but not by name, so much for low gnk!
> Stealthy!

See also "Council tax". "Blame someone else".

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Thomas Prufer said:
> On 10 Dec 2023 16:01:22 GMT, maus <maus@deb2.org> wrote:
>
>>I often wondered why 12. There is someting about 12 in library science.
>>Perhaps the `one that came before' had six digits on each hand. I know
>>younger people who pull out their dumbphone when asked, "What is three
>>plus three,''
>
> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one (well, most things are...), two,
> three, four, and six*. Ten by one, two, five -- so twelve was more suited to
> dividing things up, so the Ancients** used base-12 not base-10.
>
> One explanation I heard, dunno how true it is.
>
> * yesyes, by 12, too.
> ** Assyrians? Sumerians?

Babylon, man.

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Hymermut said:
> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>
> So is eggses.

Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 13:31:19 -0000 (UTC), Richard Robinson
<richard@qualmograph.org.uk> wrote:

>Hymermut said:
>> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>>
>> So is eggses.
>
>Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.

ISTR an Ancient Text about some god separating man from woman "as a horsehair
cuts a boiled egg", and that the author/translator added he'd tried that, and
lo!, it was indeed easy to so slice a boiled egg.

Thomas Prufer

On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 13:30:18 -0000 (UTC), Richard Robinson
<richard@qualmograph.org.uk> wrote:

>Thomas Prufer said:
>> On 10 Dec 2023 16:01:22 GMT, maus <maus@deb2.org> wrote:
>>
>>>I often wondered why 12. There is someting about 12 in library science.
>>>Perhaps the `one that came before' had six digits on each hand. I know
>>>younger people who pull out their dumbphone when asked, "What is three
>>>plus three,''
>>
>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one (well, most things are...), two,
>> three, four, and six*. Ten by one, two, five -- so twelve was more suited to
>> dividing things up, so the Ancients** used base-12 not base-10.
>>
>> One explanation I heard, dunno how true it is.
>>
>> * yesyes, by 12, too.
>> ** Assyrians? Sumerians?
>
>Babylon, man.

The Treznal Wikipedia differs from the EN one, and says they used 60, i.e. five
dozen, as a base.

Also it says how to count to 12 using one hand, using the thumb as a marker: tip
of pinkie 1, middle of pinkie two, base of pinkie 3, tip of ring finger 4, etc.
The second hand marks each dozen with one extended digit, so five dozen is a
"completely natural" way to count, just as one could see counting to ten by
simple enumeration as completely natural. (It also says that this base-12 method
of counting is still used in somae parts of the world.)

What a rabbit hole!

Thomas Prufer

In article <ul72v7$363h8$3@dont-email.me>, Richard Robinson
<richard@qualmograph.org.uk> on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 at 13:31:19 awoke
Nicholas from his slumbers and wrote
>Hymermut said:
>> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>>
>> So is eggses.
>
>Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.
>
>
This morning, I could only divide my breakfast egg into 2, unequal
parts. A sharp knife made no difference.
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

Thomas Prufer said:
> On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 13:30:18 -0000 (UTC), Richard Robinson
><richard@qualmograph.org.uk> wrote:
>>Thomas Prufer said:
>>> On 10 Dec 2023 16:01:22 GMT, maus <maus@deb2.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I often wondered why 12. There is someting about 12 in library science.
>>>>Perhaps the `one that came before' had six digits on each hand. I know
>>>>younger people who pull out their dumbphone when asked, "What is three
>>>>plus three,''
>>>
>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one (well, most things are...), two,
>>> three, four, and six*. Ten by one, two, five -- so twelve was more suited to
>>> dividing things up, so the Ancients** used base-12 not base-10.
>>>
>>> One explanation I heard, dunno how true it is.
>>>
>>> * yesyes, by 12, too.
>>> ** Assyrians? Sumerians?
>>
>>Babylon, man.
>
> The Treznal Wikipedia differs from the EN one, and says they used 60, i.e. five
> dozen, as a base.

60 is what I've heard for Babylon. Seconds/minutes/hours ... I didn't
know there were other gurbevrf.

> Also it says how to count to 12 using one hand, using the thumb as a marker: tip
> of pinkie 1, middle of pinkie two, base of pinkie 3, tip of ring finger 4, etc.
> The second hand marks each dozen with one extended digit, so five dozen is a
> "completely natural" way to count, just as one could see counting to ten by
> simple enumeration as completely natural. (It also says that this base-12 method
> of counting is still used in somae parts of the world.)
>
> What a rabbit hole!

Use binary and you can get probably more numbers than you need for
everyday porpoises, without taking your socks off.

>
> Thomas Prufer

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Nicholas D. Richards said:
> In article <ul72v7$363h8$3@dont-email.me>, Richard Robinson
><richard@qualmograph.org.uk> on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 at 13:31:19 awoke
> Nicholas from his slumbers and wrote
>>Hymermut said:
>>> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>>>
>>> So is eggses.
>>
>>Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.
>>
>>
> This morning, I could only divide my breakfast egg into 2, unequal
> parts. A sharp knife made no difference.

Ahwell. Measuring implements might be useful if you want complete
npphenpl.

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

In article <bcrdni5ao8hik7r2e0hdtgnnllr1u2256m@4ax.com>, Thomas Prufer
<prufer.public@mnet-online.de.invalid> on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 at 12:11:40
awoke Nicholas from his slumbers and wrote
>On 10 Dec 2023 16:01:22 GMT, maus <maus@deb2.org> wrote:
>
>>I often wondered why 12. There is someting about 12 in library science.
>>Perhaps the `one that came before' had six digits on each hand. I know
>>younger people who pull out their dumbphone when asked, "What is three
>>plus three,''
>
>Twelve is divisible without remainder by one (well, most things are...), two,
>three, four, and six*. Ten by one, two, five -- so twelve was more suited to
>dividing things up, so the Ancients** used base-12 not base-10.
>
>One explanation I heard, dunno how true it is.
>
>
Another explanation that I heard is that the fingers on a hand have
twelve bones.

When I used to umpire cricket matches, if I had forgotten to bring my
'bones' (six of them), I would use my thumb on my left hand to mark off
the bones in the first two digits of my left hand, to count off the
balls in an over.
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

Thomas Prufer said:
> On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 13:31:19 -0000 (UTC), Richard Robinson
><richard@qualmograph.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>Hymermut said:
>>> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>>>
>>> So is eggses.
>>
>>Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.
>
> ISTR an Ancient Text about some god separating man from woman "as a horsehair
> cuts a boiled egg", and that the author/translator added he'd tried that, and
> lo!, it was indeed easy to so slice a boiled egg.

I'm familiar with the Egg Harp, but I never thought of horsehair.
Perhaps it's because my kitchen doesn't have room for horses.

Interesting theology, thobut. The egg came before the men & women ?

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

On 11/12/2023 13:31, Richard Robinson wrote:
> Hymermut said:
>> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>>
>> So is eggses.
>
> Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.
>
>

Pedantic hat on.

I did say eggses, not egg.

Tone

On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 12:11:40 +0100
Thomas Prufer <prufer.public@mnet-online.de.invalid> wrote:

> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one (well, most things are...),
> two, three, four, and six*. Ten by one, two, five -- so twelve was more
> suited to dividing things up, so the Ancients** used base-12 not base-10.

Sixty is a good one TAAAW, one, two, three, four, five, six, ten,
twelve, fifteen, twenty and thirty.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 15:03:57 +0000
Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:

> On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 12:11:40 +0100
> Thomas Prufer <prufer.public@mnet-online.de.invalid> wrote:
>
> > Twelve is divisible without remainder by one (well, most things are...),
> > two, three, four, and six*. Ten by one, two, five -- so twelve was more
> > suited to dividing things up, so the Ancients** used base-12 not base-10.
>
> Sixty is a good one TAAAW, one, two, three, four, five, six, ten,
> twelve, fifteen, twenty and thirty.
>
Poor old seven; demand 420!
factors 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10,12,20,30

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 15:00:51 -0000 (UTC)
Richard Robinson <richard@qualmograph.org.uk> wrote:

> Use binary and you can get probably more numbers than you need for
> everyday porpoises, without taking your socks off.

You can also expect cramps in the hands.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

On Mon, 11 Dec 2023 15:51:50 +0000
"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> wrote:

> Poor old seven; demand 420!

So that explains why 7 8 9 - he had the munchies.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
Host: Beautiful Theory meet Inconvenient Fact
Obit: Beautiful Theory died today of factual inconsistency

Hymermut said:
> On 11/12/2023 13:31, Richard Robinson wrote:
>> Hymermut said:
>>> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>>>
>>> So is eggses.
>>
>> Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.
>>
>>
>
> Pedantic hat on.
>
> I did say eggses, not egg.

You didn't say they couldn't be scrambled.

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

On 11/12/2023 17:20, Richard Robinson wrote:
>> Pedantic hat on.
>>
>> I did say eggses, not egg.
> You didn't say they couldn't be scrambled.

I prefer poached

Tone

On 11-Dec-23 17:20, Richard Robinson wrote:
> Hymermut said:
>> On 11/12/2023 13:31, Richard Robinson wrote:
>>> Hymermut said:
>>>> On 11/12/2023 11:11, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>>>> Twelve is divisible without remainder by one
>>>>
>>>> So is eggses.
>>>
>>> Eggs are as divisible as you have the patience/eyesight/sharpknife for.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Pedantic hat on.
>>
>> I did say eggses, not egg.
>
> You didn't say they couldn't be scrambled.
>

So could a squadron of Spitfires.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 10/12/2023 14:56, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Dec 2023 13:37:52 +0000
> snipeco.2@Use.Reply-To.Address.invalid (Sn!pe) wrote:
>
>> Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 10 Dec 2023 02:35:04 +0000
>>> me9 <me9@privacy.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Income gnk was 6/8d in the £ when I started jbex
>>>
>>> So 33 1/3%, rather higher than today's basic rate of 20% or 5s in
>>> the pound.
>>
>> Hard Sums, eh? 20% = 4s in the pound, Shirley.
>
> Ooops - mathematicians don't do arithmetic.
>
Oft said at my fpubby: Maths is the art of avoiding arithmetic.

--
Nev
It causes me a great deal of regret and remorse
that so many people are unable to understand what I write.